GUIDELINES FOR CREATING A PDF FILE

The most important issue, when creating a PDF document, is to embed fonts so that the document looks the same on every computer. 

For Mac Users

Macs automatically have the ability to create PDFs.  Just open the document, choose the print command and select "Adobe PDF" as the printer.  The fonts will automatically be embedded.

For Windows Users

All Wesleyan lab computers have the ability to create a PDF.  You can check whether your personal computer can create PDFs by opening your document, going to File>Print and confirming that one of your printers if Adobe PDF.  If your computer does not have this ability, use a computer lab to do the conversion.

Open your document

Go to File>Print

Choose "Adobe PDF" as your printer

Click the Properties button to the right of the printer name

The standard setting ensures that fonts are embedded and that the dpi is 600.  Make sure that you uncheck either "Rely on system fonts only" or "Do not send fonts to 'Adobe PDF'", depending on your version of PDF, since you want to use the fonts already in your document.

Other items to note when creating a PDF file

For the title of your document, use the following formula:

Lastname_firstname_year_degree.pdf

example:

doe_jane_2009_ba.pdf

student_a_2009_phd.pdf

Please refer to the following documentation on how to upload your PDF in your electronic portfolio: GuidetoElectronicallyRegisteringYourThesis.pdf.  If you have additional documents, like sound or video files, you will be able to submit those at the time that you electronically register your thesis so that they can be included for library archiving. 

If you have difficulty creating a PDF, please contact the Help Desk at x4000.

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